Bozell: All FCC Nominees Must Vow to Protect Talk Radio From All Government Censorship or Political Speech Or They Should Not Be Confirmed

the Steven P.J. Wood Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research and Publications

ALEXANDRIA, VA
- Media Research President L. Brent Bozell, III today called on all
of President Barack Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
nominees to pledge to preserve the First Amendment freedoms of
conservative and Christian talk radio. Bozell asserted that if they
do not do so, they should not be confirmed by the Senate.

Bozell insists that
this include the nominees' public disavowal of the censorship
aspects of the just-passed Durbin Amendment. Last Thursday, the
Senate passed a rider from Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin
that creates broad new free speech-suppression regulatory powers for
the FCC.

The nebulous Durbin
Amendment potentially allows for the FCC to prematurely rescind talk
radio station licenses and creates many new regulatory avenues by
which the FCC can silence talk radio. All under the guise of the
vague requirements of "encourage(ing) and promot(ing) diversity" in
media ownership and "ensur(ing) that broadcast station licenses are
used in the public interest."

President Barack
Obama yesterday officially made the long anticipated announcement of
Julius Genachowski as his choice for Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission. As mentioned in today's Wall Street
Journal, Genachowski has been a long-time proponent of
media-ownership rules that encourage more diversity, a key tenet of
the new Durbin Amendment.

It was also
reported yesterday that President Obama is in the process of
compiling his full list of FCC nominees.

Brent
Bozell:

"The
time has come for all of President Obama's nominees, and Obama
himself, to publicly vow to protect conservative and Christian talk
radio from ALL forms of government censorship. So far their
silence has been deafening. Should Mr. Genachowski and Company not
vow to protect the First Amendment freedoms of talk radio, the
Senate should refuse to confirm them.

"All
the pieces for the silencing of conservative and Christian talk
radio are being put into place. Aspects of the Durbin amendment
create the impression of a new FCC censor power to pull station
licenses mid-term - and many new ways to regulate talk radio out of
existence.

"These
are frightening new governmental censorship powers, and Obama's FCC
nominees should pledge not to use them to shut down talk radio. The
'Fairness' Doctrine is dead, long live the new 'Fairness' Doctrine -
the Durbin Doctrine."

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.